On November 15, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the petition in this case, thereby preserving a favorable decision under RICO (the acronym for the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). On October 31, WLF filed a brief urging the Court to affirm an appeals court decision and thereby halt the seemingly endless expansion of civil lawsuits brought under RICO. WLF argued that plaintiffs should not be able to recover in a civil RICO action unless they can demonstrate that they reasonably relied on the defendant’s alleged fraud. WLF argued that reliance has always been an element of common-law fraud actions and should be required in RICO actions as well. WLF also argued that abuse of civil RICO by plaintiffs’ lawyers will increase dramatically if courts do away with the reliance requirement. WLF argued that in the absence of that requirement, defendants will be forced to settle even the most doubtful RICO claims rather than risk being hit with a large judgment.